Nominations for the GSA Larry Sandler Award are now open! genetics-gsa.org/awards/larry... This award recognizes an outstanding PhD thesis (graduating between 07/2025 and 12/2026) in any area of Drosophila research. Include 1) the thesis abstract, 2) the Nominee's CV and 3) a nomination letter.

MCB is hiring Assistant Professors across 3 divisions!: 🧪BBS: aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05483 🧬GGED: aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05481 🦠IMM: aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05486 🗓️ Application Deadline: October 19, 2026 🔗 Click the links or scan the QR codes to learn more and apply

I’m thrilled to share that our search for a tenure-track colleague in my *truly wonderful and collegial* Genetics, Genomics, Evolution and Development Division in the MCB Department at Berkeley @berkeleymcb.bsky.social is live! Please share this broad search widely: aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05481

Assistant Professor -Genetics, Genomics, Evolution, and Development - Molecular and Cell Biology

University of California, Berkeley is hiring. Apply now!

aprecruit.berkeley.edu

Avocados come in 2 varieties - A-types start each day female and switch to male midday. B-types do the reverse. In work just published from the last chapter of my PhD, we show this system evolved 40+million yrs ago and is regulated by alleles of 1 transcription factor www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Balanced polymorphism in a floral transcription factor underlies the ancient rhythm of daily sex alternation in avocado | PNAS

In avocado and certain wild relatives in Lauraceae, a highly synchronized daily rhythm of floral sex timing promotes cross-pollination between two ...

pnas.org

Eukaryotic domestication of a bacterial immune protein following horizontal transfer https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.04.30.722052v1

Now accepting applications for our 2027 Simons Graduate Fellowships in Ecology and Evolution! These awards support students entering U.S.-based Ph.D. programs to conduct #ecology and #evolution research. Deadline is June 30, 2026: bit.ly/4umYKZd #science

Applications for 2027 Simons Graduate Fellowships in Ecology and Evolution Now Open

The Simons Foundation’s Life Sciences division is now accepting applications for its 2027 Simons Graduate Fellowships in Ecology and Evolution.

bit.ly

A bacterial gene acquired by parasitoid wasps contributes to venom secretion against host defence -in @embojournal.org with @rokaslab.bsky.social link.springer.com/article/10.1...

A bacterial gene acquired by parasitoid wasps contributes to venom secretion against host defence - The EMBO Journal

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is an important source of gene innovation in prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. Several genes acquired by hosts of parasitoid wasps via HGT have been reported to prot...

link.springer.com

Are you curious about animal origins? Want to perturb their genetics to find out more? Now it's a lot cheaper: the FUNR @frutag33.bsky.social Lab's effort to make transfection more accessible for choanos (& relatives) is up now! 🧬 
 A brief 🧵1/5

bioRxivpreprint@biorxivpreprint.bsky.social · 6mo ago

An accessible transfection protocol for choanoflagellates https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03.10.710884v1

Proposals are due May 18 for this year’s Graduate Research Excellence Grants! Up to $2500 for 1st and 2nd year grad students and up to $3500 for 3rd years and above. Learn more and apply now! www.evolutionsociety.org/content/soci...

Now that the cat’s out of the bag: Excited to announce I will be starting a research group as a Sandler Fellow this August at UCSF! We will study the evolution of protein toxins at the host-pathogen interface across scales of biological organization. Learn more here: www.tarnopollab.org

Very honored to receive this award from GSA! I have immense gratitude for my advisor @nkwhiteman.bsky.social, labmates, collaborators, mentees, and the fly community, who in many ways potentiated my graduate research. Looking forward to sharing my work at my favorite meeting in my favorite city!

Genetics Society of America@genetics-gsa.bsky.social · 6mo ago

We’re excited to announce @tarnopol.bsky.social as the recipient of the 2026 Larry Sandler Award! 🎉 She’ll present the Larry Sandler Memorial Lecture during the #Dros26 opening session on March 4—she'll share how her research explores how protein toxins evolve to shape host–parasite interactions.

The #fly community aims to achieve a comprehensive genomic study of the Drosophilidae family. @pankajd.bsky.social @bernardkim.bsky.social @petrovadmitri.bsky.social @darrenobbard.bsky.social present a comparative gene annotation for 301 #Drosophilidae species @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4c3pyrI

Are you a Drosophila researcher & member of @genetics-gsa.bsky.social (at any level of training)? Please vote in the Flyboard elections (we have an amazing slate of candidates) before Feb 20, 2026. Please check your email or go to this website to vote: genetics-gsa.org/2026-fly-boa... Pl repost.

Did you know there are 2 types of avocado varieties? A-types switch from female to male, B-types male to female, within a single day. This reciprocal sex alternation promotes cross-pollination and has a simple genetic basis. Read more in this recent preprint from the final chapter of my PhD thesis 🥑

Balanced polymorphism in a floral transcription factor underlies an ancient rhythm of daily sex alternation in avocado

In avocado and certain wild relatives in Lauraceae, pollination occurs via a synchronized rhythm of floral sex timing between two hermaphroditic flowering types. A-type plants present female-phase flo...

biorxiv.org

The GRFP lives!! (due end of October) www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)

nsf.gov

Excited to share the latest work by outstanding PhD student @kdc509.bsky.social. This was one of our first forays into experimental evolution and uncovered some cool connections between potassium transport and antimicrobial resistance in S. aureus. Major kudos to Killian!

Evolution of polyamine resistance in Staphylococcus aureus through modulation of potassium transport | mSphere

Staphylococcus aureus is a leading cause of infectious disease-related deaths globally. Understanding factors that govern adaptation and survival of S. aureus and other pathogens in the host environme...

journals.asm.org

FlyBase needs your help! We ask that European labs continue to contribute to Cambridge, UK FlyBase, whereas US and other non-European labs can contribute to US FlyBase. For more information and how to donate: wiki.flybase.org/wiki/FlyBase...

@ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social undergrads, there is still space in this course on the cellular, genetic, and developmental basis of evolution taught by Professor Nicole King and me this Fall. Find out why, as Dobzhansky, said "nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution."

Applications now open for the SSE GREG Rosemary Grant Advanced Awards! These grants provide up to $3500 to expand your dissertation work. Submit your proposal by September 15! www.evolutionsociety.org/content/soci...

📢 There is a lab technician or lab specialist position available in my lab, starting fall 2025. The position will involve molecular biology, microbiology, drosophila work, and more. Please share with anyone who may be interested and apply here: jobs.virginia.edu/us/en/job/R0...

Biology Lab Tech 2 or Lab Specialist in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America | Research at University of Virginia

Apply for Biology Lab Tech 2 or Lab Specialist job with University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America. Research at University of Virginia

jobs.virginia.edu

Pleased this paper led by Teru Matsunaga at University of Tokyo (former postdoc) and in collaboration with many colleagues is out @official-smbe.bsky.social Molecular Biology & Evolution: doi.org/10.1093/molb.... Palp-expressed Or42a is an isothiocyanate sensor and can drive aversion to ITCs…

Odorant receptors mediating avoidance of toxic mustard oils in Drosophila melanogaster are expanded in herbivorous relatives

Abstract. Plants release defense volatile compounds that can deter herbivores. Among them are electrophilic toxins, such as isothiocyanates from mustard pl

doi.org

We currently have a call for support that has gone out to European labs, to support FlyBase-UK. We are asking our colleagues from labs in the US and other countries to wait for a similar call to them that will go out in the near future, to support the US sites. We thank you for your patience.

Mark A. Hanson@hansonmark.bsky.social · last yr.

URGENT: FlyBase has lost practically all its funding overnight; even user fees are tied up in denied grant funding. 🤬🤯 Any lab using @flybase.bsky.social please donate using the link in post below. This incredible community, on whose backs our #Drosophila labs depend, can't be left out to dry.

Get the word out far and wide. New opportunity from the Simons Foundation in the Eco-Evo space. 2026 Simons Graduate Fellowship in Ecology and Evolution Awards, due July 31, 2025, only for incoming PhD students who plan to start their PhDs in Fall 2026. www.simonsfoundation.org/grant/simons...

Simons Graduate Fellowships in Ecology and Evolution

The purpose of these awards is to provide support for students entering U.S.-based Ph.D. programs with a plan to perform research in ecology and evolution. While we will consider all projects in ecolo...

simonsfoundation.org

🚨New paper alert!🚨 We show that hummingbird beaks have changed in shape & size since around WWII, driven by the rise of commercialized feeders! 🧵 📄 Paper: dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.... #ornithology #evolution #GlobalChangeBiology

Supplemental Feeding as a Driver of Population Expansion and Morphological Change in Anna's Hummingbirds

Bird beaks are highly adaptable, with the potential to undergo rapid morphological shifts in response to environmental change such as climatic variation or food availability. Anna's Hummingbirds (Cal...

dx.doi.org

Wolbachia uses ankyrin repeats to target specific fly proteins https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.05.15.654400v1

I know you like #Drosophila and I know you like #Genomes - but do you also like #Genes? Coding DNA annotation of 304 species of Drosophilidae! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Comparative gene annotation of 304 species of Drosophilidae

biorxiv.org

Genomics and reproductive biology of Leptopilina malgretoutensis Buffington, Lue, Davis & Tracey sp. nov. (Hymenoptera: Figitidae): An asexual parasitoid of Caribbean Drosophila https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03.28.645512v1

Excited to be in sunny San Diego for my 5th (!) fly meeting #Dros25! I will be giving a poster (329T) tomorrow on some new host-parasitoid experiments — would love to chat with interested folks!

Excellent news about an excellent resource from our excellent collaborator!!

@bilderlab@bilderlab.bsky.social · last yr.

#Drosophila community: Dr. Istvan Ando has generously donated his invaluable anti-hemocyte monoclonal Abs to the #NIH-founded public repository @dshb-antibodies.bsky.social in #Iowa. We’ve tested several of them and they look great. See the🧵 for details. (1/5)

Our work on Velvet Ant venom was published online today in Current Biology www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Multiple mechanisms of action for an extremely painful venom

Evolutionary arms races can lead to extremely specific and effective defense mechanisms, including venoms that deter predators by targeting nociceptiv…

sciencedirect.com